Baling Your Garbage
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Baling Your Garbage What is a baler? Advantages and disadvantages to baling waste Where can I purchase a baler? Examples and costs of successful Alaska waste baling systems For communities OVER 700 residents For communities UNDER 700 residents Baling your recyclables Related Links What is a baler? Balers compact waste into blocks which can be stacked at a landfill or “balefill”. The blocks of waste that come out of balers vary in size and weight depending on how big of a baler you have. A small baler may produce bales 2’x2.5’x2.5’ and weigh about 400 pounds where a larger scale baler may produce very compacted blocks approximately 3’x3’x6’ and weigh approximately 4000 pounds. Several communities in Alaska bale their solid waste. Note: You can also use balers to bale your recyclables. See the Baling Recyclables document to read about baling recyclables. Advantages and disadvantages to baling waste Advantages Disadvantages Reduces volume of garbage by about 30% Can be expensive to purchase Requires less landfill land, reduces area of and operate a baler impacted land, and increases number of Balers need a power source and suitable landfill locations can use a lot of electricity Reduces amount of cover material needed Balers require a heated building Makes shipping waste less cumbersome in cold temperatures and potentially less expensive A trained operator is necessary Reduces waste scatter by animals and Frequent maintenance and birds upkeep are required Reduces maintenance at landfill/balefill, makes balefill operation easier, and results in a cleaner facility CCTHITA www.ccthita.org , Zender Environmental 2003 www.zendergroup.org Where can I purchase a baler? Harris Balers manufactures many of the larger balers used by communities in Alaska. They are a good place to start when looking into the costs of a baler for your particular community size. The Harris representative for Alaska is Larry Fagnani (907) 373- 5337 (Anchorage) or Bob Pfeffer (360) 577-4857 (Longview, Washington). www.harriswaste.com For smaller balers (more appropriate for communities with under 500 residents), contact Doug Decker at Auger Pak Inc. at 1 (800) 224 1859 or (425) 747 7719 in Bellevue, Washington. Note: some communities also use their waste balers to bale recyclables as well (such as aluminum, paper, cardboard, and plastic). If you are interested in baling waste and recyclables, ask the companies you call to recommend a baler that can do both. The vendors are listed on this web site as a directory to assist people in identifying and locating the resources they need to apply to their individual, company, or community situations. CCTHITA neither endorses nor underwrites any of the vendors listed here and is not in any financial relationship with any vendor listed here. CCTHITA does not portray this vendor list as a final or complete list. CCTHITA invites vendors whose products and/or services fit the category of Solid Waste Management to contact Ray Paddock, Environmental Technician, 1-800-344-1432 x7184, about inclusion on the vendor resource web list. Examples and costs of successful waste baling systems For communities OVER 700 residents Below are examples of a few communities, with populations over 700 people, that are currently operating successful waste baling facilities (for communities UNDER 700 residents – see further down the page). CCTHITA www.ccthita.org , Zender Environmental 2003 www.zendergroup.org Community Kotzebue Naknek/King Salmon Unalakleet Population 3,082 1,200 900 Contact Tom Graham, Harry Bates, or Jeff Currier, Manager, Peter Jackson, Baler Operator, Herman Reich, City of Bristol Bay Borough 246-4224 City of Unalakleet 624-3531 Kotzebue, 442 3401. Description Naknek and King Salmon share a Unalakleet’s baler facility and When Kotzebue was looking baler and balefill, located about 8 balefill have been operated into waste management options, miles out of town. Their baler since 1993. The baler facility lack of available space was a facility has been in operation for is centrally located in town big concern. They chose to buy about 9 years. They have been where community members can a baler and construct a balefill, happy with the baler’s performance. easily self-haul their waste to saving them valuable land space Their one complaint with the dumpsters just outside of the compared to a regular landfill. system is that the conveyor facility. Unalakleet had Trash is taken to the baler doesn't drain very well because it previously had a big problem facility, located in town. wasn’t installed correctly. The poor with wind blown trash – baling Kotzebue’s baler operation has drainage causes a mess and that their trash has significantly been running for three years. can freeze up in the winter. reduced this problem. Operation Bales of trash are shrink- At Naknek/King Salmon’s baler The operator transfers waste Plan wrapped and strapped at the facility, a Bobcat is used to lift the from dumpsters outside the bale facility. Shrink-wrapping bales into a specially made box that building to the baler each day. prevents trash from flying is closed on all sides but has a During winter, when access to around on the journey to the hinged screened top. The box the balefill is difficult, bales balefill, and keeps the birds holds 24 bales. When filled the are stored in a cold storage and animals away. The wrap box is lifted with a hooklift onto a room located in the baler also acts as a liner underneath flat bed truck. The truck hauls the building. During the summer the trash, helping to protect box to the balefill about ¾ miles months, bales are transported the permafrost. The bales are away. The bales are then unloaded to the landfill 5 miles away and covered with fill to freeze and covered daily with imported are placed in trenches that are them over, creating a gravel. covered with fill material. “freezeback” balefill. Staff Two full-time employees staff the One person full-time operates Required 5 full-time employees staff the balefill and baler facility year- the bale facility and balefill. baler facility and balefill. A round. In the summer a temporary It is quite a labor intensive private contractor hauls the is hired to help for 10 weeks. A system - often more than one garbage. private contractor hauls the person is needed to handle all garbage. the work. Maintenance Naknek’s baler has a built-in modem Baler maintenance is troubleshooting system also. After Maintenance on Unalakleet’s performed daily. Kotzebue’s 9 years of operation, they haven’t baler has been quite minimal baler is quite new and they had many problems (although last over the years. The baler haven’t had any problems thus year they had to pay to get their generally runs well, although far. Their baler has a built-in conveyor belt fixed). Naknek’s they have had some problems computer modem. The modem baler staff were trained by the with the wire strapper. The connects to the manufacturer’s manufacturer. The staff found the baler operator’s duties include control center. The connection training very beneficial, and performing daily maintenance allows the manufacturer to recommend it. Naknek also budgets and fixing the baler when there troubleshoot any operation for staff from the manufacturer to are problems. problems. come up every 5-8 yrs to perform general maintenance. CCTHITA www.ccthita.org , Zender Environmental 2003 www.zendergroup.org Start-up and annual baler costs for communities over 700 residents Listed below are the types of costs associated with starting up and operating a baler and baler facility. Costs for constructing a balefill are not included. Startup and operating costs will vary depending on the size of the community. For costs for smaller communities, see further down the page. (Where a range is given, the low-end value corresponds to a community of about 900 people, and the high-end value corresponds to a community of about 3,000 people). Comments Range of costs for 900 – 3,000 residents (Yr 2001) Startup Costs Balers Balers are available in many different models depending on the use $85,000-$115,000 for manual and need. There is a choice of getting a baler which will tie (horizontal closed door) automatically tie the bales for you (more expensive and more maintenance) or one which requires manual strapping (less $150,000 -$200,000 for expensive). Once the baler has been purchased, the manufacturer automatic tie (2-Ram) will often come to install the machine free-of-charge. It is a good idea to find out whether installation is included with baler purchase. Baler facility The building size varies with community size and the waste $75,000-$400,000 operations plan (e.g. whether any bales or trash are stored there). For 900 to 3,000 people, building sizes can vary from 30'x30' to 120’x120’. Shipping Shipping costs vary considerably depending on location and type of Depends on location. Harris baler. The smaller manual tie balers weigh from 16-27 tons. The balers are manufactured in larger automatic tie balers weigh from 20-50 tons. Georgia: baler shipping from Georgia to Seattle costs $5,000 - $9,000. Heavy Equipment requirements vary with community size and waste Depends on equipment types. Equipment operation plan. Basic equipment used by communities with balefills includes a Bobcat with forks to load the waste and unload the bales, a flatbed truck to transport the bales to the landfill (if it is not adjacent), and a loader/backhoe for use at the balefill. Annual Costs The total annual costs for operating a comprehensive SWM program using a baler facility/balefill average around $180,000/yr/1,000 people ($60 per month for a 4-person household).